tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post6058147791823985053..comments2015-08-02T13:29:06.837-07:00Comments on TOM CLARK: And Not a Drop To Drink: William Carlos Williams: The YachtsZephirinenoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-57632934271998488222012-05-15T23:38:41.279-07:002012-05-15T23:38:41.279-07:00Chris, well, nobody&#39;s perfect, though some cre...Chris, well, nobody&#39;s perfect, though some credible simulations do appear.<br /><br />I do agree with you that the system is the trap. But to an unfortunate degree the system is/was always designed and driven by the affluent (with of course their own perceived advantage rarely far from view in the planning).<br /><br />Certainly the affluent are not spared their particular psychic travails (often indeed the effluence as it were, of the affluence); but nor are the less privileged, when it comes to that.<br /><br />And from experience and observation there grows the conclusion, hard to deny, that when one is poor/old/ill/in difficult material straits, the aggravation of psychic stress, however real, urgent and intense, tends to take a back seat to problems that are unlikely ever to be confronted by those ensconced in the luxury cabins of megayachts.TChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-86528458116514010092012-05-15T12:42:03.819-07:002012-05-15T12:42:03.819-07:00Apropos your well-fed diners, Tom, I will say that...Apropos your well-fed diners, Tom, I will say that (at least in my experience) rich people have varied states of mind, just like the rest of us. It&#39;s quite possible to feel trapped amid all the affluence. Perfect selfishness is as hard to find as perfect altruism. Indeed, it&#39;s a mark of the system&#39;s ill design that life within it is as bad spiritually for the people at the top as it is for those at the bottom.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04214178206307289834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-12119268243165142632012-05-15T12:28:01.214-07:002012-05-15T12:28:01.214-07:00Nin, I think those circles of power in organizatio...Nin, I think those circles of power in organizations and institutions are carefully calculated and contrived; and although to us they may at times appear odd (because we&#39;re on the outside), from the inside they appear necessary, natural, normal and in keeping with the Creator&#39;s grand design for the universe.<br /><br />Watching the diners emerge well fed and liquored after an exquisite and expensive meal at the local chosen meeting place of the rich and famous, it&#39;s always hard for me to imagine any of these people ever has the slightest suspicion that that design was drawn up to suit any one but them.TChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-35746648470263327212012-05-15T11:39:13.174-07:002012-05-15T11:39:13.174-07:00It is insane, really. I don&#39;t know. What I f...It is insane, really. I don&#39;t know. What I find most overwhelming is the sense that we COULD solve or mitigate certain crisis but don&#39;t because of the odd circles of power in almost every organization.Nin Andrewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12643167108589844026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-77346311162997629302012-05-15T10:57:51.151-07:002012-05-15T10:57:51.151-07:00Well, to start with, I&#39;m sorry to say I would ...Well, to start with, I&#39;m sorry to say I would probably be difficult to mistake for a yacht owner under any circumstance.<br /><br />Even with the jaunty cap.<br /><br />Otherwise... I suppose there is some point in the implication that one person&#39;s excess might well be another&#39;s want, and vice versa.<br /><br />Still...<br /><br />&quot;Are not each of us ... at least as guilty of excess, ignorance and unwillingness to act as the yacht owners?&quot;<br /><br />That&#39;s one of those Zen parable questions, I reckon.<br /><br />It seems to answer itself really.<br /><br />Though the &quot;at least&quot; does go a bit overboard with the parable.<br /><br />Man the lifeboats! Logical excess ahoy!<br /><br />Without any ability to fathom how it might feel to be the owner of a megayacht, the best one can say is that from the outside looking in, the glass through which one views the interior of the parabolic luxury-goody-shop remains dark and clouded.<br /><br />There are perhaps degrees of excess. To be not dying however is not quite the same thing as to be a fat cat.TChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-6822255263748454192012-05-15T10:38:27.200-07:002012-05-15T10:38:27.200-07:00&quot;I don&#39;t own a yacht&quot; might be a sta...&quot;I don&#39;t own a yacht&quot; might be a start.Tom Raworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01917743465756906412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-77437827081039631532012-05-15T10:13:50.162-07:002012-05-15T10:13:50.162-07:00Are not each of us well fed, well educated people ...Are not each of us well fed, well educated people at least as guilty of excess, ignorance and unwillingness to act as the yacht owners?<br /><br />If you were to meet the mother of a malnourished child or the father of a child who died of starvation how would you explain the difference between you and yacht owner?Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452842332549541201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-34134971815482889902012-05-15T08:36:46.302-07:002012-05-15T08:36:46.302-07:00Tom,
&quot;brilliance of cloudless days, with bro...Tom,<br /><br />&quot;brilliance of cloudless days, with broad bellying sails&quot;<br /><br />&quot;donkey lies partially covered by the wind-swept sand&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Megayacht Dubai (formerly named Platinum)&quot;<br /><br />&quot;A woman prepares her shawl as her baby lies on the ground&quot;<br /><br />&quot;as the skillful yachts pass over&quot;<br /><br />&quot;while the real situation (of the poor) is desperate&quot;<br /><br />5.14<br /><br />grey whiteness of fog against invisible<br />top of ridge, quails calling from field<br />in foreground, sound of wave in channel<br /><br /> where extended space, field<br /> is chosen arbitrarily<br /><br /> from point to a line, since<br /> from part, it follows<br /><br />grey white of fog against top of ridge,<br />pelican flapping to the left toward itSTEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-83097007293692605102012-05-14T19:13:19.035-07:002012-05-14T19:13:19.035-07:00Hello :) I would love it if you could check out th...Hello :) I would love it if you could check out the poems I wrote on my blog and give me some feedback! Pretty please? :)<br /><br />Sara<br /><br />branchesofthought.blogspot.comSarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256637428531354427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-10049990753854302862012-05-14T16:50:45.691-07:002012-05-14T16:50:45.691-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.dalriada9http://www.blogger.com/profile/08508765523188135182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-63017822449592876552012-05-14T12:10:43.015-07:002012-05-14T12:10:43.015-07:00I know only one very small fact about very large y...I know only one very small fact about very large yachts: they&#39;re often a &quot;bet the company&quot; proposition for the builder, meaning that if the customer withdraws while the yacht is under construction, the builder has to throw in the towel and liquidate. Several large yacht-builders have gone under this way. Great riches/volatility. Devil/long spoon.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04214178206307289834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-2915409397916286812012-05-14T12:10:02.245-07:002012-05-14T12:10:02.245-07:00This is simply unbelievable to read and to see; th...This is simply unbelievable to read and to see; the poem, pictures and their captions seen together have incredible force. I used to have a subscription to the English &quot;people, places and events&quot; magazine, Hello! (it&#39;s nice to look at because it&#39;s large format) and they went in for a fair amount of yacht coverage (and rather less desert famine reporting). It&#39;s the laser shield to prevent unwanted photography that&#39;s chiefly missing from my life. Until now, I guess I never knew. CurtisACravanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00315707533118640284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-7255691056628928822012-05-14T10:15:52.582-07:002012-05-14T10:15:52.582-07:00Tom, This is deeply disturbing, as it should be. ‘...Tom, This is deeply disturbing, as it should be. ‘. . . the horror of the race dawns staggering the mind . . .’ A world as out-of-balance as the one that assaults us here can’t last. It continues only by main force, and becomes no longer an Earth but a prison for rich and unrich alike. Mere physics will redress the balance, in part. We’re alreadiy coming up hard against a finite material world. How to revive a moribund sense of ethics and compassion in the human race, and recover the inner balance, is another question.Hazenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13417573435195561519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-30458831716122207442012-05-14T07:52:31.144-07:002012-05-14T07:52:31.144-07:00Thanks, Tom,
for reminding us, again.Thanks, Tom,<br /><br />for reminding us, again.Conrad DiDiodatohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18312831623791642286noreply@blogger.com